My CAR was a "proof of stressor". And it should be. I respect any one who earned their CIB/CAR. Particularly ordinary grunts.All this army vs. marines stuff is boring. My dad was career army. I was a marine grunt 68-70. The MC 2 year enlistment "option". Never wanted to be in the service, really. I was basically one step ahead of the draft. Lots of my school buddies went into the army or marines and then to Nam. We all had pretty similar experiences. We got about 4 months of training, half of it useless in the war we were to fight. Then we went to the bush and learned our jobs the hard way. I respect any kid (and we were kids) who gets the bare mimimum training and them gets stuck in some hell hole to try and figure it out. I guess these are the guys I relate to, not the "pros".The professional military guys and elite units are great, but when the wars get going, it's the basic grunts that do most of the sweating and bleeding. There just ain't enough green berets, seals, rangers, to go around. In todays wars, I have friends with kids in the national guard who deployed and learned to "kick in doors" on the job. Now some of them are back home trying to figure it all out.Same stuff, different war.And what that medic/corpsman said was dead on. Grunts is Grunts.Griff

I think the inter service rivalry has been going on since the Revolutionary War Army versus Navy could you imagine serving on a ship in the 1770s and 1780s? Not me I avoided USOs on the week ends putting Army and marines together was a good way to start a fight they mix about as well as water and oil most of it is in good fun but you usually find someone that takes it over the line and then the "punches" start my cousins all went Marine Corp because Uncle Art had been a Marine he married my moms sister my dad and all of his relatives going back to 1775 had served in the Army so my brothers and I had our "path" laid out for us also, I think most kids want to live up to what their "dad" wants and expects of them so if Dad was a Marine they are going to be a Marine and try to be better than Dad was, as was what my brothers and I also did, Dad served in the 7th Calvary in 1914 - 1916 went with Pershing into Mexico after Pancho Villa you know that had to be rough, our grandfather served in the Calif 4th Volunteers in the Civil War made Corporal before he was discharged in 1865 and then went back to Arizona and started a town called Safford in 1874.

I think somewhere along the line we all learned being in the military was NOT as glamorous as we thought it was going to be, and our goal was to just get out of the military alive regardless of what branch we served in bottom line is we are all veterans regardless of what your MOS was......where you were and what you did it's over and we are alive so now the goal is to live as long as we can but none of us is getting out of this life alive we will all die some day thats a given

I still remember the talk Cpl Croom gave us when we graduated Boot-Camp, he said, "I know we have told you how bad you are and how well trained you are but don't go looking for a fight. My buddy and I on our first weekend liberty went to San Diego to beat up sailors and got our asses kicked".

Now after 40 plus years I think how stupid all that stuff was but I do still remember it like it was yesterday.

Our Marine unit 1/4/3 in Vietnam rescued Green berets several times, not for lack of training but because the Army decided two of them could hold a hill.

I sitll watch movies like Independence day and see mistakes, like when Will Smith used the term Soliders, instead of Marines, that's a mistake a Marine would never have made. I still can't help myself when someone refers to me as a Solider, I have to make sure they know I was never a Solider, I am a MARINE.

Edit: In the movie Avatar when the Marine sleeps with the daughter of the Chief I told my Son-In-Law, "That's what happens when you send in a Marine with the locals girls, I don't know why anyone was surprised?".

Edit2: Let me add to the original question, I have a CAR on my DD214 and it's going on 9 months and I'm still waiting for my C&P to be scheduled so I guess it's better than not having it but it sure doesn't speed anything up.

I've always looked at the inter-service rivalry/jokes as good fun. My grandfather was in Korea (Army, I believe), my uncle was a crew chief on a Sea Stallion during Vietnam (Navy), on my father's side two of my uncles were career Air Force, and I was Army, and my younger brother was a nuke on a Trident sub. Even have some good friends who were Marines (poor bastards). In the end, I dont think it matters what branch you serve in - it only matters that you are a brother in arms.

Not sure how important the combat infantry badge is to anyone else, but it means a great deal to me. And I'm the only one who really counts anyway. Oh by the way, are the Marines still part of the Navy? Just a chuckle guys!

Old Rocker Steve I was told the only reason the Navy even created the Marine Corp is that the Admirals needed some bell hops to handle their bags and laundry the Marines think the Navy exists to take them places to fight they need to do what the Air Force did to the Army and divorce them and become their own branch of the military instead of being the poor red headed step child

I didn't go into the Air Force because airplanes fall out of the sky and I can't fly and I didn't go in the Navy because I am a lousy swimmer and with my luck the ship I was on would sink so I knew I could walk so I did like my father grandfather and the rest of my dads family I went into the Army I wouldn't trade my CIB either I will admit I liked the track vehicles a lot more than I did the straight leg units....... at first I resented all the motor pool time but after a few months and I saw how nice the vehicles were and how they saved lugging around a ruck sack all the time my back and legs really appreciated the M113's and the 557's

During WWII most all of the beach heads that the Marines landed on were cleared of obstacles such as mines and channel debis by the US NAVY UDT TEAMS..................they were always the first on the beaches.....

Bottom line for Nam Vets at least, CIB or CAR, no stressor letter is required. I wrote one on my claim and the Rater stated in the Award letter that the stressor letter wasn't needed and wasn't used in the decision and that the CIB alone verifies the stressors.

As far a expediting, it doesn't give you any priority, and shouldn't. It may however, shortnen you claims processing time since no verification is required.

It is not only between different services but within the service. When I was at Ft. Benning, in the Honor Guard, we would jog by the Airborne school while marching and sing disparaging cadance songs. Like, "if you have a low IQ, you can be in Airborne too". But when it mattered, in combat, any one regardless of Branch was always ready to back anyone else up in combat. That is what makes all of us so very special!

True enough. In my battalion we had 3 line companies of tanks, and 1 company of mech infantry. In garrison, there was always a lot of shit talking, but in Iraq when we rolled up to support Charlie company, they were damn glad to see our big guns.